CalendarZ

  1. Home
  2. On This Day
  3. July
  4. 20
  5. Óscar Elías Biscet

Births on July 20

Óscar Elías Biscet
1961Jul, 20

Óscar Elías Biscet

Óscar Elías Biscet, Cuban physician and activist, founded the Lawton Foundation
Dr. Óscar Elías Biscet González (born July 20, 1961 in Havana, Cuba), is a Cuban physician and an advocate for human rights and democratic freedoms in Cuba. He is also the founder of the Lawton Foundation.

Biscet was given a 25-year prison sentence in Cuba for allegedly committing crimes against the sovereignty and the integrity of the Cuban territory. Despite appeals from the United Nations, foreign governments, and international human rights organizations, the Cuban Government refused to release Biscet until March 11, 2011. In recognition of his "advocacy efforts for human rights and democracy" in Cuba, Biscet was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007 by U.S. President George W. Bush.

References

Choose Another Date

Events on 1961

  • 16Apr

    Fidel Castro

    In a nationally broadcast speech, Cuban leader Fidel Castro declares that he is a Marxist-Leninist and that Cuba is going to adopt Communism.
  • 1May

    Fidel Castro

    The Prime Minister of Cuba, Fidel Castro, proclaims Cuba a socialist nation and abolishes elections.
  • 25Jul

    NATO

    In a speech John F. Kennedy emphasizes that any attack on Berlin is an attack on NATO.
  • 10Aug

    Agent Orange

    First use in Vietnam War of the Agent Orange by the U.S. Army.
  • 13Aug

    Berlin Wall

    East Germany closes the border between the eastern and western sectors of Berlin to thwart its inhabitants' attempts to escape to the West, and construction of the Berlin Wall is started.[2]